Sick Dog?: What to do for a Bad Tummy

January 13, 2014

Recently we moved from a house with a doggie door and fenced-in yard, to an apartment. Our new apartment life meant walking our three dogs, 3-4 times each day to ‘relieve themselves.’ Within a few days of this change, BabyCakes began to vomit and had a terrible case of diarrhea.

When it continued for 36 hours, I called my vet. Thank goodness he knew (or suspected) exactly what was wrong. It seems that she just had a bad tummy from either drinking shared water at the dog park or eating something off the ground on our walks.

We followed the steps below and she was all better within 2 days. If your dog gets sick, please call your vet. Just because this worked for my dog, does not mean that it will work for yours.

How to Care for a Sick Dog with an Upset Stomach:

1. Make a batch of white or brown rice. Before the water is fully absorbed, remove 1 TBSP of the rice-infused water and set aside. Continue to cook the rice until done and cool to room temperature.
2. Feed the room temperature rice water to your dog.
3. At feeding time, mix half cooked rice and half of your dog’s normal kibble. Continue this mixture for 3 days.
4. 2-3 times a day, feed your dog 1 TBSP plain yogurt and 1 tsp Pepto-Bismol. Continue for 3 days.

On the positive side, BabyCakes really enjoyed her ‘medicine’ and seems sad now that she is back to regular food!

I do the chicken/brown rice mixture too. I also give our dogs pumpkin for tummy issues. One of our worries is shared water at the dog park. We don’t go very often, but it is a concern so I bring our own water. We’ve been lucky, but I have heard that other dogs have gotten sick :(